Strong winds

March 15. Day 12. Ocotillo to El Centro 43 miles or 70 km.

I felt tired today and was happy that we had decided to take it easy. Although the weather improved considerably, it was the wind that made life difficult at the moment. Last night the wind was so strong that it lifted my tent off the concrete floor eventhough I had reinforced the floor with some heavy boulders.  Needless to say, I didn't sleep well.

The route was simple. Just going straight through the Yuha Desert. We cycled at sea level with a moderate wind at our backs. Lots of time to look around and take pictures.

I never thought that a desert could be so beautiful. Yes there is lots of sand and struggling bushes but also some beautiful flowers with intense colors. Riding the desert was very enjoyable to me.

We arrived in Calexico around 12.30 pm and decided to get some groceries at Wallie and eat some lunch. After another hour or so we reached the camping in El Centro. The man behind the desk wanted $50.00 USD and didn't want to negotiate. So I called another camping and negotiated it down to $30.00 USD playing up that we are seniors on a bike and don't need much. It worked😅.

The wind had become very strong again and we searched for a place out of the wind. We thought we had it licked but about an hour ago we saw my tent making some strange dips. In this wind it wouldn't survive. So we packed up all our gear and moved it to a more sheltered place. We are back on a concrete slap behind a building and are happy we can have a good night sleep 😴